28 March 2014

DPMM FC ready to bounce back today

Jason Thomas

bandar seri begawan

Friday, March 28, 2014

IT WILL take more than a six-point Tampines Rovers lead at the top of the Singapore League to worry DPMM FC captain Rosmin Hj Mohd Kamis.
Three-time defending S-League champions, Tampines sent out another strong sign to their title challengers by coming back from a two-goal deficit to beat Harimau Muda B 3-2 last night – denying the Malaysian national Under-21 team their first points of the season after a dramatic turnaround in which they scored all three of their goals in the last 10 minutes.
Second-placed DPMM FC face Geylang International FC at the Bedok Stadium in Singapore tonight knowing they have to win in order to maintain the pressure on the league leaders, who were trailing 2-0 until the 85th minute when Noh Alam Shah made it 2-1 – with marquee signing Miljan Mrdakovic scoring a S-League leading sixth goal in the 93rd minute before Roberto Martinez capped the remarkable return with his team’s third goal three minutes later.
“I don’t think there’s more pressure on us, we just have to focus on winning (against Geylang),” Rosmin told The Brunei Times last night.
DPMM FC were on the receiving end of a Tampines comeback of their own on Sunday night when the Stags stormed back from 1-0 down to beat the hosts 2-1 at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas, handing the Bruneians their first dropped points of the season.
Not only were the goals the first DPMM FC have let in all season, the win saw Tampines move away from DPMM FC to take sole possession of top spot in the 12-team table – though Rosmin insists they have put the defeat behind them.
“The most important thing is how we react after last week’s defeat,” he said.
“It’s very important (to win against Geylang) since we need to get back to our winning ways.
“Every team will concede goals, we just need to bounce back.
“We needed to take our chances that night and I’m sure we would have won, but we need to live with it and now we need to keep going and forget about the loss,” he added after seeing the team’s three-game winning streak come to an end.
Geylang have been the exact opposite.
After losing their first three league games, Geylang notched a slim 1-0 win over the Young Lions (Singapore national Under-23 team) in their last game on March 20 and will enter tonight’s tie against DPMM FC with a spring in their step.
The game against the Young Lions was the first match in charge for Jorg Steinebrunner, who replaced V Kanan in the Geylang hot seat, and the German’s arrival seemed to have motivated the Eagles enough for them to grab their first points of the campaign.
“They have a new coach from Germany and they won their last match, so it won’t be easy for us,” admitted Rosmin.
Perhaps adding more pressure on DPMM FC, though Rosmin won’t agree, is tonight’s other S-League game which pits fifth-placed Balestier Khalsa against third-placed Warriors.
A win for either of the two sides, combined with dropped points by DPMM FC, could see Brunei’s only professional club slide to third.
Adding more spice to this week’s round of action was last night’s other game which saw Home United steal a 90th minute equaliser against Hougang United to seal a 2-2 draw, with a win for the latter ensuring they would push DPMM FC to third.
But in a season which is only five games in, it will take more than that to give Rosmin any sleepless nights.